Although he was doing well in the shorter formats, it took a while before Rohit made his Test debut. In the first game, itself, he scored a big hundred and showed that he belonged to the team. There was another period away from the Test Team but after he made yet another comeback, apart from establishing himself as a solid opener, he also became the skipper of the team. Interestingly, it was in Sachin Tendulkar’s last series that Rohit actually made his Test debut. On that note, here, we take a look at India’s playing XI when Rohit Sharma made his Test Debut.
Openers: Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay
Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay were the openers in India’s playing XI when Rohit Sharma made his Test Debut. Back then, there was a phase when Dhawan and Vijay had forged a solid opening combination for India. While Dhawan usually took on the bowlers, Vijay was adept at tiring the bowlers and taking the spark out of the new ball.
Middle-Order: Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (C&WK) and Rohit Sharma
MS Dhoni was the captain of India when Rohit Sharma made his Test Debut. While Pujara batted at No.3, Sachin was at No.4. Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni formed the rest of the middle-order of this team. It must be noted that in just one more year, MSD also retired from the format while Virat became the skipper of the team. Rohit had a terrific debut game that too at one of his favourite grounds – the Eden Gardens.
Bowlers: R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Pragyan Ojha
R Ashwin scored a century in this game and also had a fine show with the ball. Pragyan Ojha was Ashwin’s spin-partner for this series. Bhuvi and Shami were a part of the pace attack. Shami had a solid game in this encounter as he picked up a five-wicket haul in the second innings.
